


Soulmates Time and Time Again (One Shot Collection)

by FanficCornerWriter19



Series: Equals, Lovers, Soulmates [3]
Category: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: AU, AU one shot, Angst, Cameo, Cameos from other fandoms, F/M, Fluff, Multi, One Shot, One Shot Collection, looking for beta, some fluff and some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 04:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16130057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficCornerWriter19/pseuds/FanficCornerWriter19
Summary: A collection of one-shots, AU or otherwise, featuring the characters of Jane Austen's magnificent 'Pride and Prejudice' as depicted in 'More Than My Dearest Friend'.Also featuring: cameos from other fandoms!NOTE: 'More Than My Dearest Friend' is in the process of being rewritten. The new and improved version is up on fanfiction.net with the same title, under the author BookRookie12 (also me).





	Soulmates Time and Time Again (One Shot Collection)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EJ06](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EJ06/gifts).



> Hey everyone!
> 
> I'm struggling with writer's block for MTMDF, so I started a one-shot series featuring these characters in the hopes of unblocking myself and inspiring myself to continue the rewrite. Am looking for a beta, so if anyone is interested you can comment or PM me on fanfiction.net (I'm BookRookie12, just saying).
> 
> I AM planning to continue this fic, so do tell me what you think of it, and comment ideas for other AUs or situations I can use for in-universe one-shots!
> 
> This first chapter is a skating AU featuring Aleksander Morozova from Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy. The song referenced in the short is real and I recommend listening to it so you can imagine the movements of the skaters. Enjoy, wolflings!

She wished Will could see this.

Of course, she hadn’t had any contact with William since she was sixteen, and she was nine years older than that now, but every time Elizabeth Bennet saw a great performance she wanted to show her childhood best friend. After all, he was the one who first introduced her to the world of skating.

Elizabeth was an ice skater, not a rollerblader, and yet she was absolutely mesmerised by the pair of skaters just a few feet from her. One wore all black, his shock of thick black hair unsullied by headgear, and the other wore white and royal blue, down to his rollerblades and helmet.

She’d only plunked down on a bench in the skate park because she was tired, and because the crisp autumn air was a joy to breathe. It did look like she was going to stay awhile, so she texted Jane not to worry.

Black skates flickered in and out of a red line of small cones while white-and-blue ones matched them neck and neck on a green one, on either side of a blue line. The two young men whirled into a circle, each holding onto the other’s shoulders until they tore away from one another and zipped around the perimeter in opposite directions before meeting again and describing a line around the blue line of cones, each skater balancing on just two wheels: the foremost wheel of one skate and the backmost wheel of the other.

* * *

_“You can’t do that kind of thing on ice skates,” William pointed out. “The blades catch.”_

_“But ice rinks have basically free air conditioning.”_

_He laughed, cerulean eyes twinkling. “That’s true. But you don’t have to pay to skate on the roads, Lizzy.” He skated up a ramp and twirled mid-air once, twice, before skating back down and grinning. She punched him lightly in the shoulder._

_Both of them knew that William’s family was upper middle class, if not upper class itself. Lizzy also knew that while her parents wouldn’t mind her buying a pair of ice skates should she save up for one, they probably **would** mind if she bought a pair of slightly costlier rollerblades, which she’d outgrow anyway, just to accompany her friend around London. _

_Both of them knew that Lizzy’s family must not be told that their seven-year-old second daughter skated the roads in an outgrown pair of her best friend’s skates._

* * *

Thanks to her friend, Elizabeth had had a good start when she began competitively ice skating. Because of his reckless risk-taking she knew most of the tricks and how to do them, resulting in a more streamlined training process and a better turnout.

And because of William’s stupid teenaged risk-taking instincts, she knew most of the tricks the pair were executing, but she was just as attracted by the dynamic of pair skating as by the tricks themselves. The one in black appeared to be the leading skater, pulling off the more complex and advanced tricks, while the one in white and blue sailed in circles around his partner, using simpler tricks but on feet so fast Elizabeth could barely trace them.

By the end of the display, Elizabeth was captivated. This kind of grace, this kind of condensed passion, was something she saw in the performances of figure and roller skaters alike, and especially in the videos of Hell on Wills (pun intended, apparently), which she’d watched extensively when experimenting in rollerblading.

White-and-Blue’s style seemed almost familiar, as if she’d seen the steady shoulders and blue fingerless gloves somewhere before. The way he held himself, the way he skimmed with a different kind of effortlessness than his partner’s.

Black’s confidence was easy, almost lazy. White-and-Blue was like wine in a club, full of concentrated passion and potential that slid down slow and heady and buzzing with spirit.

* * *

_The first time she went to see William perform at one of the ice skating competitions, she expected to see a rather mediocre output by a bored boy. After all, William’s father had forced him to, when he preferred roads to ice. What she did see took her breath away._

_His carriage was a blend of classical poise and the bold daring of youth, half a racer and half a trickster, and his routine flashed the blades of his signature blue-streaked white skates everywhere on the rink. Most surprising was the grin he was sporting, showing off his sparkling cerulean eyes, sparkling like the ice he manoeuvred on so well._

_He loved it, and it showed in the exhilarating eagerness in his movements; Elizabeth felt almost dizzy from watching him. It was like surfing a riptide; she'd go under if she wasn't careful, but the blood sang in her veins._

* * *

The one wearing white and blue glided over to the speaker sitting off to the side, and fiddled with it until a song filtered out. Elizabeth recognised it immediately: _Roaring 20s_ , a recently released song by Panic! At the Disco, whom she enjoyed listening to sometimes.

White-and-Blue skated to his partner, and they began weaving in and out of the cones, uncrossing and crossing their legs, to the sound of the first verse.

God, it was intoxicating.

The beat and the rhythm throbbed in every cut and click of their skates, in every measured flick of their arms, in the practised carelessness of their movements. Their slim physiques emphasised the slight, hypnotic sway of their hips, reminiscent of speakers in dark clubs pumping the dancers full of neon energy.

Swing melted into sway melted into wave as the music seemed to take control of the skaters. Their steps got more frantic and their tempo increased, only to ebb like a tide and begin again as the fiddle-like instrument screamed its encouragement. Their hands flowed through the air, beckoning as seductively as an American dream, as a green light across a harbour, as the addictive abandon in bars at 8 pm and the fiery smell of charred cigarette.

Each circle, each whirl, each twist bled into the music and became part of it, just as the skaters became part of each other whether weaving apart or spinning together.

Their choreography blended in with the song perfectly. The effortless, focused fervour in their bodies melded spectacularly with the song, and now she could see why they chose it to practise to. She didn’t know how many hours they’d put into calculating and perfecting each move, but they moved with a fluidity that Elizabeth would have loved to see on ice.

Until White-and-Blue skated a little too close, flickered a hair too near to the blue cone by his foot. Elizabeth didn’t see what really happened, but she knew what it could’ve been.

The smooth, confident performance shattered like glass as a leg went flying, cones scattered, and a thud rang on the ground as the skater slammed into the pavement.

“Oh my god!” Elizabeth cried, and she was holding out a hand to the fallen rollerblader before she knew it, even as his partner glided up on black skates. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said the skater, with the tight smile Elizabeth knew hid smarting pain. One knee drew up in its blue-and-white skate, as his hand took hers and he got to his feet with the wobbly would-be grace of a fawn. “Sorry to bother you, miss.”

“Oh, you didn’t,” she said quickly. “I loved your performance! That was amazing!”

“Until I went flying, you mean.”

“No, really!” She paused. “Okay, _maybe_ until your skate caught and you fell. Are you okay?”

“He will be,” answered the other, steadying his partner. “He’s done this countless times.”

Elizabeth met the cerulean eyes of the white-and-blue clad skater, who turned to his friend and said, “I think I’ll take a break, Alek.”

The skater in black shrugged. “As you wish.” As he cut smoothly backwards across the pavement to the three skaters on the other side of the park¾a male and female brunet pair, and a golden-haired boy¾the white-and-blue skater took off his helmet and smiled at Elizabeth. “Thanks again. I’m William, and the emoer-than-thou show-off over there is Aleksander, also called Alek.”

Oh damn.

He was handsome.

Not hot. Not pretty. Not beautiful - not beautiful like Aleksander was, with midnight hair and silver-quartz eyes. _Handsome_ , with clear-cut features, a flickering smile, and dark, dark hair that was almost black.

But something else clicked.

Finally, Elizabeth put together all the pieces. The familiar manner, the white-and-blue streaked skates that had tugged at her memory just as much as his carriage of himself had. “You’re Hell on Wills!” she blurted, then blushed and looked down. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

For a moment he seemed dumbfounded. Suddenly, he laughed. “Technically, I’m just the skater. The magician behind all the videos is my cousin, Richie. He’s the one who edits and uploads and everything. I just do all the tricks and narrate.”

Oh God, he was being so nice. The embarrassment seared not just her cheeks and ears, but every part of her, even prickling down at her toes.

“Did I say something?”

She hadn’t said anything! Oh God. “No!” she cried. “I’m fine. It’s just…”

William/Hell on Wills (she now understood the pun completely) rocked back on his heels. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you remind me of someone.”

Elizabeth had better not go near her cocktail of emotions. It was too confusing. “Who?”

“N-never mind,” the rollerblader replied, clasping his hands behind his back. He led her back to her bench and took a seat beside her in silence. Elizabeth felt a prick of curiosity. _It’s his choice, Lizzy_. _Calm down._

Finally, he spoke, not meeting her eyes. “Well, if you don’t mind me saying… my old best friend, back before I moved up north. When I was a teenager, she loved to watch me skate, and I think I owe her part of what I am today.” He looked up with a wan smile. “That’s all.”

“Your name isn’t Fitzwilliam Darcy, by any chance?”

He straightened with wide eyes. “Who told you that?”

“You did.” She grinned impishly as she bumped his shoulder. “I knew it! It wasn’t just Hell on Wills you reminded me of.”

She got no reply.

He was staring at her, mouth open, barely breathing. The sun-gold ring around his eyes that she remembered glittered. “Please tell me you’re not kidding,” he begged.

“I’m not!” She held up her skate bag. “I think I owe you part of who I am today,” she said, echoing his own words back to him as she opened it and showed him the pristine white ice skates inside.

He stared, as if not fully comprehending. “Prove it,” he whispered, like a child. “Prove it.”

“When we met, your first words were, ‘I didn’t mean it! I’m so sorry!’” she told him, nostalgia tingling in her heart. “And on my eleventh birthday you gave me my very own pair of skates. They were green and had a note tucked inside. _For Elizabeth. I hope you zip after your dreams as fast as you zip after me. F.D.”_

Blinking, he sank back against the bench. Two hammering heartbeats later, he threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, Elizabeth!”

She found him with one arm around her and herself with a head nestled in the crook between his arm and his shoulder, filled with joy at having found her only real best friend again. And this time, she vowed, she wasn’t going to let her pride get in the way like last time.

She wasn’t going to let go, for as long as he’d let her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT 30 SEPT 2018: Added a few memory scenes, made several descriptive changes. Tweaked the first practise skate between AM and FD because Alek just seemed the type to skate that way.


End file.
